A/N- *inches in* hey all...Yes, it's me, I'm not dead, which is surprising, I know. I bring with me a short installment for my Young Justice/NCIS AU. It's settled right before 'I Don't Want to Just Be Fine'. I know it's not an update to Hiding in Plain Sight, and for that I apologize. But, it does have Dick, and other things! So read, enjoy, and just know that in the middle of my crazy life, I am trying to make time for HiPS, I swear. Love you all!
Also, to answer future questions that I know I'll get, yes, this is Dick's first night out as Nightwing
He stood out and over the parapet, and in front of him was this broad expanse of glittering lights, darkness, and nothing but air. All that space, all that potential, the freedom…god, he could feel it, actually FEEL the tingling, the want to do nothing but freefall, to feel the wind through his hair and the electricity in his blood again. He didn't know he could want something this bad.
Well…there were a lot of things that he wanted. But, that was a problem for another night. Tonight was a night for celebration and rebirth, if he wanted to get really cliché.
His toes curled on the edge of the roof, and he found himself sucking in a lung full of air, and expelling it back into the night.
It's time. It feels good, and right…let's do this!
And with a giant leap, he was soaring, and it was everything remembered and so much more.
He was flipping and turning in the air, and it felt like he'd done all of this just yesterday instead of months ago. It was all seamless motions in midair, and he did a triple full, a double layout full in back to back, then a circus special that didn't even have a name, and then he was Richard Grayson and Robin again, pulling out of a quadruple and he just couldn't keep the smile off of his face.
This, this was what it was like to be alive. How did people even smile while they're tethered to the ground? How could people survive without knowing what it was like to soar weightless through the air, free and falling at the same time?
Bludhaven was his playground for the night, and Dick navigated himself through the concrete buildings with the ease of a bird, albeit an acrobatic one. Every flip, every twist and contortion felt like art in motion, and Dick decided this was the moment he felt at home in Bludhaven, making his way around the skyline with his grapple.
It was Bludhaven, so at some point duty called down on the streets. Every attempted robbery, every thief trying to mug an innocent was met with swift justice and several swift yet beautiful blows and kicks. To any bystander Dick was a flurry of blues and blacks that blended into the night, all elegance and grace combined with force, legs spinning and body twisting.
It was a good night.
Flipping on top of one of the taller and most central office buildings, he looked out over the expanse of city that was his to protect. Bludhaven had been his home for a little while now, but the city that had been tearing itself apart had been largely on its own until now, left to fight its own battles. But Dick was here now, and he was ready to make a difference and do anything to make this a better place for everyone that lived here.
He owed it that much.
"Impressive. You're quite the showman." Measured claps sounded off to his right, and he spun at the sudden sound, alarm bells instantly going off in his head.
Shit Dick. Batman would kill him if he ever found out about his total lack of spatial awareness. Well, maybe not kill, just make his practice until he dropped from exhaustion.
The voice originated from the door leading out to the roof top. For a second Dick could only think of Catwoman, slinking out of the shadows, but as the figure stepped out into the dim moonlight he could see he was mistaken. This was no Selina with her tight leather suit and ironic pointed ears.
As much as this was a (potentially) painful remind that Dick wasn't paying attention, he couldn't help feel something…familiar about all this. Midnight rendezvous hidden away on a forgotten roof…this at least was territory he had traversed many times before. "I guess I should say thanks for enjoying the show," he responded glibly, ever the performer.
She quirked her head to the side, and messy, short blonde curls piled onto one shoulder. "Not a problem at all. I can always appreciate a rare talent when I see one. It's been a long time since I've seen someone fly like that."
"Aw, shucks. You're making me blush." Rest of the roof was clear—it was only the two of them. A siren sounded somewhere in the distance.
She smirked at that. "Well, I certainly didn't mean to embarrass. I only meant that for being such a new face around here, you certainly have the moves down. This looks old hat for you."
Hmm…that's more along the lines of what Dick was expecting. The black and blue he was wearing now he had never worn before and tonight was just that—a dry run, a warming up for the old routine. She wouldn't know him (no one would, except for a select few), but clearly she knew the game well enough to know he knew what he was doing. Was she a player that he'd missed while he was taking time to tie up loose ends?
Bruce sounded in his ears. Caution. You can't be caught unawares if you're prepared for any possible situation.
And as much as Dick wanted to listen to the voice of his mentor, it was also his first night out as a new man, and the blood was still rushing in his ears, and sparking underneath his skin. He felt alive, and even if it wasn't the same girl he typically exchanged witty banter with, it still felt good.
He felt himself smiling in her direction. "It's definitely not my first rodeo, that's for sure."
Her eyes sparkled at that. "Oh really? Any chance I'd recognize some of your previous work?" She shifted her weight, and Dick took the split second to take in her black turtleneck and black pants, coupled with dark combat boots and something glinting in her pocket. Interesting—an outfit picked out for a specific task in mind, and most of the ones that came to Dick's mind ran along the lines of 'not legal'.
At that question he shrugged amicably. "Depends, possibly. What circles do you run in? We may have crossed paths." Not likely, he'd probably remember that voice or honey blonde hair.
She held up a hand in a sort of taunting speculation. "Oh, you know, here, there, everywhere. I'm well traveled. As we all are."
Dick picked up on that—as we all are. Was she implying that she was a superhero, or a former mask? He doubted it, because she was his age, give or take a year or two either way, and he'd definitely remember someone in the game that was his age at the time. Unless she really was a newcomer…He'd need to confer with Bruce and double check that there was nothing major he'd missed. But she also wasn't wearing a mask, and not everyone could get away with Clark's disguise.
Could he really have missed another hero around the time of their team? He didn't think so, but now he wasn't so sure.
Her non-answer gave him no new information, so time to try down a different path. "So, what's a nice girl like you doing on a rooftop at this time of night?"
Her answering smile was a little too wide, her white teeth glinting in the moonlight. "'Getting a breath of fresh air' seems a little too cliché, doesn't it?" Her eyes were in steady contact with his, unflinchingly so.
Dick smiled before he could really help himself. He always like the witty ones, whether on one side or the other. Not to mention he was the resident king of cliché. "Yup, sorry. Air's not that fresh anyway. You're probably doing yourself more harm than good."
"I think that would depend more on the 'nice girl' stipulation, wouldn't it?"
She was being more direct than he was…in a way. "I guess it would. Theoretically."
She nodded her head as if she understood, as if they weren't talking in circles around one another. "Ah, theoretically. In that case, to clear up whether I'm a 'nice girl' or not, would you like to know what I've been doing while I haven't been enjoying the air?"
And before Dick really even thought it through, he was stilling, preparing for…anything. Something. He was coiled. "Hypothetically?" One hand on his almost invisible belt, ready.
She rolled her eyes. "Of course. So, hypothetically there's a man in this law office building who's been getting away with siphoning off substantial amounts of money from various charities mean to help orphaned children. In theory, if one was to get a hold of all of his account holdings and not only erase all that data from his servers but also find that money and send it back where it belongs, along with alerting the proper authorities, well then, that wouldn't be wholly criminal, would it?" She looked at him with large blue eyes, the most serious she'd been all night.
Dick didn't know her past and her history, or the reason she was going after this man. He couldn't pretend to know any of it. But if there was one thing he was sure of, through both his lessons with Bruce and his natural ability to read people, he was sure that she wasn't lying. This wasn't a person who was withholding the truth.
"Theoretically, that wouldn't be entirely criminal, no. It might possibly bring up the question of how someone got a hold of this information, but then…"
A knowing smile played on her lips. "But then, that's not too far off from your regular activities, am I right? And you could certainly ask, but whether you'd get an answer, well…It's hard to say."
Her story rang true, but her evasive tactics and everything else…She wasn't wrong. Her activities (if that was the whole story, which was unlikely) ran right in line with what he'd do if he was investigating. Something still itched at the back of his mind though.
"You're not too far off. Any chance I could get an assurance on these hypothetical happenings?"
She contemplated, and Dick briefly saw her bite the inside of her lip before she turned back to him. "Yeah, I guess so. Only because you've allowed me the courtesy of explaining myself." She reached into her pocket, and Dick barely had the chance to brace himself before she was tossing something his way. He caught it, and saw what had been glinting out of her pocket—a Chanel lipstick. Popping it open revealed a flashdrive where a solid block of red wax should be.
Of course. Now this was cliché.
He looked up and she had relocated to the edge of the roof without making a sound. He held up the lipstick flashdrive and she shrugged. "Hey, nothing wrong with the classics." She moved to step back off the roof, and he was going to let her—she'd been nothing but straight with him. It may not be something that Bruce would do, but tonight of all nights Dick wasn't going to anything but be himself.
Seemingly on a whim, she turned back around and made eye contact with him.
"It's nice to see you back, Robin. The new suit looks good on you."
And then she was gone over the edge, and Dick was left staring out at the night sky in wonder.
A/N2- This character will come into play. She is of my own creation, and right now I'm really enjoying writing her. HiPS will enjoy it's own chapter update very soon here, keep your eye out! And as always, thank you for favoriting, following, reviewing, and making me want to continue this story :)